Valve



A. F. ERICKSON VALVE Filed Jan. 31. 1924 ra ed Feb. 2.192s.

uulrsolsra'rss PATENT oer-"ice.

alumna r. narcxson, or PORTLAND, onneon'.

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Application filed ar 31,,1'924. Serial No. 689,796.

Portland, county of Mult11omah,.State of toggle arms and its fulcru Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valves,-of;which the following is a specification; i

My invention relates to valves injgeneral, and particularly to electrically 'operated valves, and is a further development of and improvement upon that device disclosed in my PatentNo. 1,439,231 of Dec.'19, 1922', the object being to improve the. valveby the elimination of the upper valve seat, to simplify the electrical operating mechanism, and to inclose said mechanism within a gas tight casing. V q

I accomplish these objects by-means of the construction illustrated in/the accCm} panying' drawing, which is a part of this application for Letters Batent, like char;- acters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views thereof, and

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my device. i 1

-Fig. 2 is a'plan view thereof, with the cover removed 3 i v Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail'view of the valve and its connected partsfi Fig. 4.- is a perspective {ip'wfof one of the mounting.

In general my device consists of a valve of the globe valve type with a,ball valve cooperating with a metal seat therein; a pair of axially alined solenoids mounted within a gas tight casing secured to the body of the yalve; a valvestem projecting through said"solenoids; a plunger common to both solenoids freely mounted upon said valve stem with its longitudinal movement thereupon restricted; and yieldable toggle mechanism within said casing and connected with said valve stem to accelerate the movement of the same and to hold thesame at either end of its path oftravel independently of the solenoids-'1 The valve body p globe valve type as (showmhaving a ground metallic seat 6 upon which is seated a ball valve 7. Said ball valve is freely mounted upon a valve stem 8 ,so that it may have a limited movement in all directions independently of any movement of the stem.

' This I accomplish by soldering, or otherwise securing, a flange 9 upon the ball valve 7,

its preferably of the and securin said flange to the stem by means of a pin 10. The stem 8 is a loose fit within thefiange 9,,and the pin 10 is a loose fit within the stem 8, as shown in detail in Fig. 3, and thus the ball valve "7 is allowed a limited movement independently of the stem 8. f

Mounted upon the valve body, .by means of a nutll is a plug12, which fits the valve body with a gas tight ground joint, preferably conical, as shown in Fig. 1. .A centrally disposed tube; 13 is secured to the '3 plug 12", and is axially alined'withthe seat of the valve 7, and extends above the plug 12. An outer shell 14.. surrounds the tube 13 and is spaced apart therefrom. Said casing is secured to the plug 12 in a gas tight manner. This. is accomplished, preferably, by making the casing of cylindrical form, and providing a flanged or" dished washer 15 at the lower end thereof, said casing and washer being soldered together,

and. said washer being soldered upon the plug 12.

A pair of axially alined solenoids '16 an 17 are .disposed'within the casing 14 and surrounding-the tube 13, and theyvalve stem 8 passes upward through said solenoids to terminate above the same in a grooved end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Thesolenoi-ds are provided with a common plunger, which is of tubular form as shown at 18, and

which is freely mounted upon the valve stem 8. The plunger 18 is positioned upon the stem 8. by means of apm 19 secured in said stem, and the. plunger is given a limited longitudinal movement range upon the stem 8 by making the orifices 20 in said plunger, whichv receives the pin 19, slightly larger than said pin.

- The casing 14 extends beyond the solenoids to form a chamber, preferably 'at the upper end thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, and within said chamber is disposed-the yieldable toggle mechanism. This-consists of a pair of toggle arms 21 coacting with the slot 22 in the upper end of the valve stem 8, and having yieldable fulcrum brackets 23 secured upon a diaphragm 24 which diaphragm closes the casing 14 above theupper solenoid 1.7,'-.and forms the bottom ofthe chamber within which the toggle mechanism is disposed. Electrical contact members 25 and 26' are mounted upon diaphragm 24, the contact member 25' being adapted to contact with oneof said toggle arms 21 when the same is in its 'uppermo'st'position, and the contact member 26Jbeing adapted to contact with the other toggle arm when the same is in its lowermost position. Electrical binding, posts 27 and 28 are mounted upon the casing 14 and insulated therefrom, as shown in Fig. 1. The binding post 27 is connected with the solenoid 16 by wire 29, and the binding post 28 is connected to solenoid 17 by wire 30. The solenoid 16 is connected to contact member 26 by wire 31, and the solenoid l7 -'1s connected to contact member 26 by iivire 32. Thus binding post 27, solenoid 16 and contact member 25 are in series, and also the same is true of binding post 28, solenoid '17 and contact member 26.

The casing 14 is closed at the top thereof in a gas tight manner, preferably by soldering thereupon a flan ed or dished cap 33, and a grounded electrical binding post 34 is provided upon said cap.

The toggle arms 21 are mounted upon their respective brackets 23 in any convem ient manner. As shown the arms are provided with a tongue 35 disposed. within a slot in the upper ends of the brackets, the shoulders of the arms being disposed within indentures 36 in the brackets. The brackets are made of spring material, and thus sufficiently yieldable to enable the toggle mechanism to function.

The device is intended to be operated by a thermostat such as is commonly used with gas heating apparatus, and isso well known in the art as not to require illustration or description. My device is connected toone side of such a thermostat by wire 37, and to the other side of the thermostat by wire 38. Wire 39 is connected to the base of the thermostat through abattery or other convenient source of electric current. The device may also be operated by push buttons tact member 26, diaphragm 24, casing 14 and binding post 34 to wire 31 and back to the thermostat. The solenoid 17 is thus energized, which causes the plunger 18 to move upward. Due to the lost motion between the pin 19 and the orifice 20, the

. plunger moves freely at first, and thus hits the pin 1 a slight blow, which assists in, opening th ball valve 7 L As the valve stem 8 is thus moved upward the toggle arms pass their center, and then accelerate the movement of the valve and valve stem, terminating the movement thereof with a snap action, and finally holding the valve stem in its uppermost position and thus holding the valve open.

When the valve is open the contact member 25 is in contact with the arm 21, and the contact member 26 is not. in such contact. If then the thermostat energizes the wire 37, the current will flow therefrom through binding post 27, wire 29, solenoid 16, wire 31, contact member 25, diaphragm 24, casing 14 and binding post/34 to wire 31 and back to the thermostat. The solenoid 16 is thus energized,-whichcauses the plunger 18 to move downward. Due to the lost motion between the pin 19 and the orifice 20 the plunger moves freely at first, and thus hits the pin 19 a slight blow, which assists in overcoming the resistance of the toggle mechanism, and closes the valve. As .the valve stem 8 thus moves downward, the toggle arms pass their center, and then accelerate the movement of the valve and valve stem, terminating the movement thereof with a snap action, and finally holding the valve v7 firmly'upon its seat within the valve body 5.

My device may be madeof any size, and constructed of any materials deemed convenient" and suitable for :a device of this character, and while I have illustrated and described a form of construction and arrangement of parts found desirable in materializing my invention, I wish to include in this application all mechanical equivalents and substitutes that may fairly be considered to come within the scope and purview of mv invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having disclosed my invention so that others may be enabled to construct and to use the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a valve: a pair of axially alined solenoids; acasing containingsaid solenoids and projecting thereabove to form a chamber; a valve stem projecting through said solenoids intosaid chamber; toggle arms mounted Within said chamber and adapted to operate said valve stem; and electric contact members adapted. to contact W1th said toggle'arms to close electric circuits operat .ing said solenoids.

In witness whereof I claim the foregoing as my own I hereunto aflix my signature at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, this 13th day of June 1923.

ARTHUR 1 ERIOKSON. 

